Shohei Ohtani Had Funny One-Word Response to Seeing Yankees’ Aaron Judge in Person

Kristen Wong | Jun 10, 2024

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani’s recent comments on New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge didn’t need much translation. 

Ahead of the Yankees-Dodgers game on Sunday, Ohtani was asked for his thoughts when he sees Judge at the plate. 

“Huge,” Ohtani said. “I see him every year, but I’m just surprised at how big he is.”

"Huge. ... I’m just surprised at how big he is." 😂

—Shohei Ohtani on what he thinks when he sees Aaron Judge in person 😅 @PerezEd pic.twitter.com/dAR3iVkpAY

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 9, 2024

Judge, who measures in at 6’7’’ and 282 pounds, is only a few inches taller than Ohtani, but with the season he’s having, it’s no wonder Judge can sometimes seem larger than life.

The five-time All-Star recorded his league-leading 24th home run of the season in the eighth inning of the Yankees’ 6–4 win against the Dodgers on Sunday. Ohtani, for his part, is slashing .311/.379/.571 with 15 homers on the year.

Judge and Ohtani rarely find themselves in direct competition with each other, yet there was one play from the game in which Judge tried—but ultimately failed—to throw out Ohtani. During the eighth inning, the Dodgers star proved too speedy and managed to outrun Judge’s throw to home plate, sliding in milliseconds before the catcher tried to tag him. 

The Yankees avoided the sweep against the Dodgers and went home with the victory, but this will hardly be the last time that the league’s top sluggers in Ohtani and Judge square off.